Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2007, 46, 6065
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Preface to Kenneth A. Smith Festschrift This festschrift was conceived of well over a year ago to pay homage to Dr. Kenneth A. Smith, Edwin R. Gilliland Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), on the occasion of his 70th birthday. In the characteristically pithy words with which Ken once described the completion of this writer’s doctoral thesis, it has proven to be “a long and difficult birth” (and for none too dissimilar reasons). Its publication, as a result, comes shortly before Ken turns 71. However, the reverence that prompted its conception remains undiminished. In Ken’s fifth decade of service on the faculty at MIT (where he earned the S.B., S.M. and Sc.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering), his legion of devoted admirers at MIT and elsewhere continues to grow. In recognition of his professional accomplishments, interpersonal skills, and integrity, Ken was named as MIT’s Associate Provost and Vice President for Research (and served in those positions from 1981 to 1990), received the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)’s prestigious Professional Progress Award in 1981, and became a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1983.
Ken’s numerous research collaborators and advisees have benefited from his remarkable abilities to (1) identify the fundamental physicochemical mechanisms underlying observable phenomena, (2) formulate appropriate mathematical models, and (3) employ such models to identify important dimensionless parameter groups, elucidate asymptotic behavior, design key experiments, and interpret experimental data. The result is a large and distinguished body of scholarly production in the areas of transport phenomena, drag reduction, atherogenesis, membrane transport, supercritical fluids, surfactant dynamics, and aerosols. His sizable professional contributions notwithstanding, firsthand experience and numerous discussions with his other students and advisees have convinced this writer that Ken’s greatest and most enduring impacts have been on our lives. All of us recall fondly the sound of Ken’s hearty and heartfelt laugh. His mentoring, both professional and personal, has been priceless. We consider ourselves most fortunate indeed.
Jerry H. Meldon Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts UniVersity, Medford, Massachusetts 02155
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[email protected]. 10.1021/ie078006l CCC: $37.00 © 2007 American Chemical Society Published on Web 08/10/2007
IE078006L
